Saint in the Sinner
by PineappleKoala
Summary: A year ago Ed went missing, and when he shows back up on Winry's doorstep, she takes him-and his unruly savior-in. But what does the strange young man want with her? And what does Edward owe him that he's not telling her?
1. Challenge

_So, this just came to me one day and I sat down and started writing._

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. It doesn't stop me from writing this for fun though._

_And much thanks to my wonderful Beta Soliel. _

_Enjoy~  
_

_

* * *

  
_

It all started with a crash.

Winry woke with a start, shooting up in her bed as her door crashed open, cracking her wall and making her heart race. Ever since she had taken in the lost child, Wrath, she had been a light sleeper, noticing when he wandered about the house, or when he was arguing with Alphonse again. Usually she didn't mind it, enjoyed it almost, knowing she helped the child out of his own hell, but tonight, when she had just wanted to sleep, she hated it, and glowered at the small child.

"What, in God's name do you think you're doing?!" She snapped, her head throbbing. The silhouette of Wrath came close,r and she felt a cold metal finger pressed against her lips. Confused, she looked closer at the child, fear seeping into her system when she saw his frantic expression.

"Winry…" he breathed, his eyes wide and blue and brimming with tears, "there's a _body_ on the porch." Winry gulped. Why would there be a body on the porch? Was this just Wrath having a nightmare and mistaking Den for more than he was, just a sleepy dog on the porch? Calmly, she got up, taking the distraught child's automail hand and being lead along. The house was dark and quiet; Alphonse was in Central for the week, going to school. The two crept towards the window, and Wrath pointed down.

There was a dark shape on the porch alright, something bigger than Den and vaguely human shaped. She inhaled. There was no smell coming in, she didn't think they were dead. Would someone really dump a person on the porch of a stranger? She frowned, telling Wrath to stay behind her and heading down the stairs, grabbing a wrench off one of her many work tables along the way. The child followed suit, and she was proud of him for it. But she would have to tell him later. Carefully, with wrench raised, she opened the door, waiting for an attack.

None came.

She breathed a sigh of relief and lowered the tool, bending down to take a pulse, brushing the hood back from the face. Golden hair fell, covering it and she gasped, taking the person by the shoulders and shifting them. Tears rimmed her eyes as the body's chest rose and fell, the face sporting a single cut on the cheek but otherwise unharmed.

After over a year of being missing after going through the gate, it was Ed. In the flesh, whole--unharmed. Human. Aside, of course, from the automail. She cried out in shock, and felt Wrath kneel next to her, looking down at the sleeping Ed.

"It's Edward…" He said, looking at the alchemist. She nodded and tried to pick the blonde up. Wrath, seeing her struggle, lifted Ed by the legs and together, he and Winry brought him in and onto the couch. Ed groaned and shifted in his sleep, but otherwise remained still. Grabbing a blanket off the back, she set it over him, her heart swelling. She would have to call Alphonse in the morning; he would be so happy. She would have to go to granny's grave too, to tell her about it. She turned, starting to tell Wrath to go get some more blankets and paused. He was staring out the window.

"What is it?" She asked, looking out at the ground he was staring at. It seemed to be darker, and wet, but she saw nothing on Edward that indicated he was wet. It hadn't been raining. The small homunculus pointed. The trail headed toward the river. Frowning, she grabbed her coat from the rack and her wrench off the floor.

"Stay here," She said, switching on the light and opening the door, "I'll be back in a little while. If Edward wakes up get him some water and tell him I'll be right back." The child nodded, going over to the sleeping blonde. Den wandered into the room and sat next to him, sniffing and wagging his fluffy tail on the floor, kicking up spare pieces she had dropped. Making a mental note to clean up some in the morning, Winry spared a moment to smile, then went out into the night.

The first thing she noticed was the silence. There were no insects making noise, no night birds singing, not even a mouse skittering on the ground. An eerie feeling crept up on her, chilling her to the bone. She pulled her coat closer and inspected the wet trail on the ground. It turned the green grass a sickly black and her worst fears were confirmed.

"Blood…" she muttered to herself, following carefully. The trail led down to the river in gravitational drops, with small puddles here or there off to the side. But it was the puddles that interested her more than the gravitational drops. The spots were fresh, but small, like someone cut their hand; insignificant. The puddles, however, looked dark and old, but they hadn't been there when she went to bed, that was for sure. It struck her as truly odd when she realized it was coagulated. Dead. Maybe an animal got sick? No, it wouldn't follow the same path… the thought made her frown, worried. There shouldn't be this much of this and it shouldn't be this dark. She glanced back at the house before pushing forward.

About half a mile down the river she stopped, hearing the god awful sound of a person retching. Alert, her eyes scanned the darkness for the source of the sound. The clouds moved and let some moonlight show through, lighting the scene in a pale glow. Ahead of her, maybe a hundred yards or so, was someone hunched over, holding hair out of their face, hunched over the ground, shaking and retching. Sitting back, they spit the remaining out of their mouth before wiping it off, first on their (arm? sleeve? from here she couldn't tell) then on the ground. A violent coughing fit took them and the person hunched again, doing this several more times before they sat back and put their head in their hands, carefully massaging the temples. In what looked like disgust, the person shoved some dirt from the riverbank over the mess, before setting their head on their knees. Winry looked from the person, to the half-covered mess, then back to her house. This had seemed really familiar, and it was right on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't quite place it.

Wondering, she backed up and squatted next to the closest puddle of blood. In the moonlight she could clearly see small, crystalline fragments in it. And then, like a bolt of lightning, it struck her. Wrath had been doing the same thing when his body was expelling the fake philosopher's stones. Alphonse had said that without a constant supply of them, the homunculus was rejecting them. She didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but it seemed to her--and to Wrath now--that the only thing those stones did was cause an imbalance to make them batshit nuts. She glanced back up at the figure, confused.

So this was another homunculus. But Al had told her that the others besides Wrath were all dead. That the little guy living, well, not peacefully but certainly enjoyably, at her house was the last one. That they were all dead. Except…

Except there was one that they weren't sure was dead. The one that went into the gate… after Edward. She could recall that one clearly. He was the oldest, craziest, meanest… and apparently now he was the sickest. Swallowing hard and holding tight to her wrench, she stood, walking over to the homunculus with deliberately louder steps than she had been using. If he was really as sick as she thought, then he probably wouldn't attack. If he did, well, she'd throw her wrench, run like hell and call for Wrath. One homunculus would be able to protect her from another right? _Well, here goes nothing…_

The homunculus looked up, moonlight catching the emerald-black hair in its beam. So she was right. It was _that_ one. She smiled and waved, trying to show that she was friendly and didn't want to fight. He stood, looking twitchy and on edge, ready to run at the drop of a hat. Luckily, she had no hats to drop. Only her wrench, which she set down in front of her, still about ten feet away from the predatory young man. He regarded her carefully and wiped at his face, looking at the wrench, then her, then the wrench.

"Don't think I don't know what that's for." He said, pointing at it warily. It seemed she was right; he was sick, and wasn't looking for a fight. "What do you want, anyway?"

Winry smiled, and bowed--a small bow of respect. Maybe if she was decent to him, he'd be decent to her. That's how these things normally worked, right?

"You brought Edward back home." She said, figuring that getting straight to the point would be best. He cocked his hip to the side and glared down at her (as much as he could, really, seeing as he was rather like Ed and lacking the gift of height) and crossed his arms. A grin was playing on his lips and she felt that maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. He was dangerous, after all. Ed and Al told her enough times: a dangerous, inhuman, shape-shifting psychopath with daddy issues. But maybe the psychopathic behaviour was because of those red stones?

The homunculus laughed. "I wasn't doing you any favours, girl, I was just doing what he asked. He pulled me out of that blasted gate when he didn't have to, could have just left me there to rot. So I did what he asked and brought him home. It's not like I was looking for or want your thanks." He sneered, tossing the hair out of his face. Seeing this go downhill fast and feeling like she was going to lose his attention any moment she gestured back at the house.

"Wrath is back at my house." She said, clutching at straws. Only that wasn't quite right with him. Clutching at straws made it seem like she had something he wanted in the first place. This was more like clutching at air. She hoped that he'd at least like to see his only kin left. His eyes drifted back up to hers and he looked puzzled for a moment, before going back to the same darkly humorous face he had before.

"You took care of the little brat?" He asked, seeming genuinely stunned. She nodded and turned, grabbing her wrench and heading back to the house. She didn't know if withholding information was really what she wanted to do, but it seemed to work when she heard his soft steps following her. She smiled.

"You're welcome to stay too, Envy. As long as you wish." He snorted behind her and strode past, heading to the now lit house. She had a feeling that if he weren't ill and homeless she would have been fish food \ in the river by now, but she felt that if someone needed help, they should always get it. No matter who they were. That's why she had taken in the child Wrath, and that's why she'd let Envy stay for a few days.

She walked up her front steps, and put her hand on the doorknob to go in when Envy's black clad one swung forward and slammed into the door, holding it shut. Confused, she looked over at him. His amethyst eyes were shining and he had a blank look on his face. She opened her mouth to demand he tell her just what the _hell_ he thought he was doing but deflated, the odd look on his face killing her argument.

"Why are you doing this?" He gazed at her darkly, like there was something seriously wrong with her, before backing up and crossing his arms. "I tried to kill your friend in there and his brother more times than once. I even had permission to take you out if it kept those two in line." Winry frowned, thinking. A grin split Envy's face for all of two seconds before vanishing as she spoke, confident.

"Because you helped Ed and because you're Wrath's family. And if I were to just leave you out here, it'd be pretty rude, seeing as you did bring him home." His brow furrowed, and he pushed his way past her, striding into her place like he owned it with something about "stupid humans" being muttered to the air. Winry inwardly celebrated for getting Ed's unusual and unruly savior into the house when she heard a loud squeal. Lifting her wrench above her head, she ran into the living room and prepared to use it on Envy or Edward or both.

"ENVY!" Winry almost laughed as Wrath latched himself onto the last of his kin, much to the disgruntlement of Envy. The older boy was shoving and trying to pry the younger one off. She heard a chuckle from the couch and was delighted that Edward was awake. Den was sitting faithfully next to him and Winry had to pause. Envy had disentangled himself from Wrath and was getting what seemed to be an update on what happened after he vanished in the gate. Sighing, Winry sat down on the couch next to Ed and smiled. He looked older now, kind of. Like a lot happened in a small amount of time. In retrospect, it probably did.

"It's good to see you." Ed said, smiling back. But his eyes weren't off Envy for more than a couple seconds at a time. Knowing what he was going to say, Winry looked over at him and beat him there.

"He's sick." She said, watching with interest as Wrath animatedly told the older boy everything about something collapsing. She wasn't really paying attention to what was being said, but cringed when she caught something about one of theirs called Gluttony getting squashed by a boulder. Wrath slapped his hands together in mimicry of what happened. Edward nodded, bringing her attention back to him.

"He said that might happen." The blonde pulled his hair tie out and let his hair down, rubbing the back of his skull. Winry understood the feeling; her head got annoyed when she had her ponytail in too long. That's why she slept without it.

"It happened to Wrath." She said, watching Envy watch her. It was odd, like he didn't trust her in her own home. It probably wasn't helping any that she still had her wrench on her. She set it down on the table with a clatter, hoping to relieve some of the obvious tension the young man had. Ed, Wrath and Envy winced; eying the thing like it was the devil come to earth. Feeling guilty, she thought maybe she should start trying to be less violent…

"I called Alphonse." Wrath said, looking like a kid in a candy store leaning on Envy's leg. Envy, paler than usual, even for him, looked like he'd rather Wrath be anywhere else, but there. "He'll be here in the morning with Mustang." Winry nodded.

"Ugh, Mustang." Ed and Envy echoed each other. Ed looked over at him questioningly, the sin giving him a look before standing and stretching, walking past them and heading out into the hall. Wrath bounded out and up the stairs to show Envy to the room he and Al normally shared. But not before Winry caught the green haired sin glancing back at her. Just a quick glance, but it was there. Then a tiny, barely perceptible nod at her. She stared at the spot he vanished from stunned.

"That's his version of 'thank you so very much'. I got something close to it when I pulled him out of the gate's clutches." Ed explained, flopping down on the couch again as she stood. Wondering how a gate could have clutches, Winry nodded in understanding of the show of gratitude. It must be hard for the homunculus to admit he needed someone other than himself and his own resources. Curious at the lack of hostility between the two, she glanced up the stairs again.

"Why didn't you kill each other?" She asked, brushing her nightclothes off and heading towards the stairs. She was exhausted and wanted nothing more than her own bed, but needed to know she wasn't going to wake up to a blood bath. Sick or not, Envy was still the dangerous ancient artificial human that hated the Elrics. Ed shrugged.

"He got me out of the gate. I owe him a favour."

"Wha-?"

"Goodnight Winry." She was shocked at the obvious dismissal, but headed up the stairs anyway, looking forward to sleep. She knew she should worry about what they were up to, and find out as soon as possible, but it looked like Edward wasn't going to tell her. Either way, it didn't matter. She was determined to find out.

When the sunlight filtered in her room the next morning, Winry almost turned over and went back to sleep, but a loud bang and an even louder yelp dragged her out of bed, reluctant to leave the comfort and warmth. But she guessed that meant Alphonse was back, and he had found Ed. She smiled to herself and dressed, heading down the stairs, glad to have both brothers back home again. The heartwarming scene of the reuniting brothers made the room radiant. Even Wrath and Mustang, looking rather bizarre standing next to one another, added to the joyous occasion. Wrath was bouncing on his heels, pulling on Mustang's uniform and the older man was smiling in an exhausted, relieved way, entertaining the hyperactive youth. She looked around the room, happy, but… something was missing. Someone, rather.

"Wrath, where's-" She had only gotten those two words when the child bounded up to her, a crumpled paper clutched in the hand that hadn't been pulling on Mustang's uniform. She looked at it curiously before he shoved it into her hands and bounced away, hopping in little circles around the teary eyed brothers in the middle of her hall.

"It's from Envy." He said, smiling and laughing. "I didn't read it. He said it was only for you." He made sure to emphasize the last words and she stuck her tongue out, ruffling the child's hair. Winry nodded and thanked him, unfolding the paper. On it was a map of Central, with a red circle around one of the buildings and a hasty note at the bottom.

_Girl-_

_Bet you can't catch me._

_If you do, I'll give you something good._

_-Envy_

So he wanted a challenge? Winry looked over the map and slid it in her pocket carefully. The sin had caught her interest. What was something good to a homunculus that had nothing? What did he want? Why did he want her, of all people, to come after him? She didn't know, but Winry was going to find out. She liked a challenge. But it would have to wait. Right now she had two very happy young men beaming at her, and she wanted to spend some time with them. Striding forward, she grasped the boys in a hug, laughing when she felt Wrath fling himself on them too, and even Mustang set a white gloved hand on Ed's head.

It had all started with a crash in the night, and now she had someone she had lost back. She had her own small family. And, if she had anything to say about it, her family was going to get one person bigger.

It was off to Central.

* * *

_Read and review please. _

_Reviews make me want to write more :3 _

_-PK  
_


	2. Central

**Thank you to everyone who've been reading this and for all the encouraging reviews! I never expected so much feedback and I hope to get more with this. **

**And a special thanks to my beta Le Soleil Avant Le Crepuscule, without whom this would be a tremendous mess. **

**Loves.**

**-PK**

----

"There's food in the fridge, and if you don't feel like cooking, Wrath can do it. Just make sure he doesn't undercook the meat, he likes to pull it off a little early." Winry was buzzing about the house, throwing things in the bag she was taking with her to Central. The small gaggle of men in her living room looked at her, confused. Alphonse was holding Edward's red jacket, in the process of folding it. Mustang watched with Winry's schematics on his lap, almost fascinated as Wrath tightened and fixed Ed's arm.,. The little homunculus _hmm_-ed now and then to acknowledge her.

"Where are you going Winry?" Al asked, watching her debate taking her favourite wrench. She set it aside in the small pile of tools Wrath was using. When she had taken the child in, he had been so bouncy and energetic that he had almost driven her insane. It hadn't been until he had watched her fixing his own limbs (with a million questions streaming out in a rapid buzz that had reminded her of angry bees) that one single thing had caught his attention. Since then, she's let him work with her, and was beginning to teach him how to build the automail itself. He was quick and efficient, and could read the schematics like a pro. She wondered if all the homunculi were this smart. Smiling at Al, she placed a can of pepper-spray in her bag instead.

"I'm accompanying Brigadier-General Mustang back to Central." She said, her voice light. Wrath's eyes flicked to her pocket, where Envy's map was, then back to Ed's arm, tightening a loose bolt by his shoulder.

"He wants you to go to Central?" The little sin asked, making Ed and Al glance warily at the black haired man. They both knew he was a self-proclaimed ladies' man, and it didn't sit well with them that Winry was going with him. Mustang at first, looked just as confused as the Elrics, before quickly composing himself again. She noted the way his eyes flicked to the map and his lips pressed together. If he said something about it, it would blow her whole cover. The Brigadier-General stepped by her and grabbed her bag.

"One of the men in Colonel Armstrong's unit had an accident recently, and I requested that she come and look at it, to see if she could build a replacement limb." He explained, seeing the skeptical looks on the Elric's faces. Wrath smirked, but said nothing, for which Winry was glad. She knew he knew that she was going after Envy, she just didn't want the brothers to know, or they'd throw a fit. The child looked up and her and stretched, pushing the hair out of his face. Ed offered him a hair tie and he took it, putting the jet black locks back.

"You want me to watch these two while you're gone?" Wrath asked, standing and fetching a different tool. Ed watched him, confused at his calm behavior. When they had first met him, he had been a hyperactive kid with no control of his Alchemy. Then he had eaten those red stones, and had become a hyperactive _psychopath_ with no control of his Alchemy. Now, he was calm and quietly working, with no hints of Alchemy. Winry, however, smiled and patted his head as he went by.

"I'll make sure Ed gets better." Wrath said, looking from Mustang, who was standing by the door ready to go, to the Elrics, one of whom was sitting on the couch and the other was folding laundry a few feet away. Winry nodded and Wrath thumped himself into her, grasping her into bone crushing hug.

"You be careful of Envy," He said, low enough for her to hear and no one else. "He's unstable. More than he used to be. Ever since Lust…" The child stopped, frowning. He let go and walked back over to Ed, plopping down and opening the blonde's arm, poking around in it.

"You just be careful, okay?" He asked, eyes wide. Winry nodded.

"Are you sure you have to go?" Alphonse asked, looking at Mustang shifting in front of the door.

"Yeah, everybody in Central knows what a womanizer he is, so you be careful Winry. It's not his style to cradle rob I don't think, but I've been gone awhile, right Colonel?" Ed said, a grin on his face as the raven haired man stiffened slightly. Wrath snickered as Mustang turned, a strange look on his face.

"It's Brigadier-General now, Fullmetal. I expect you up and ready to come back to Central to fill out a report in a week at most." Ed nodded and the room got uncomfortable, causing Winry to grab her coat and open the door. She had a feeling that Ed had really insulted Mustang, and the last thing she wanted was for the irrational Flame Alchemist to set her house ablaze.

"Brigadier-General?" she asked, not liking the weird feeling. It was hostile on a whole different level of hostile. Not the norm between Ed and Mustang. Misplaced hostility, almost like it was only that cause neither of them knew what it really was.

"I'm ready to go." Winry said, breaking the weird feeling. The man nodded, turning.

"I'll see you in a week Fullmetal."

Mustang preceded her out the door. Ed and Al smiled up at her and she waved.

"I'll be back as soon as I can guys, okay?" The brothers nodded and Wrath snickered at them, tightening a bolt on Ed's leg, making him jump.

"We'll be fine, Winry, just go on. The sooner you get there the sooner you'll be out of that creepy Colonel's reach." Alphonse laughed, getting up and handing her a letter.

"Can you drop this off with Sciezska? I need a book for my class."

"Of course." She said. She liked Sciezska, and would have to make sure to stop and spend a few minutes with her, at least. Once she found Envy that was. Mustang made an impatient noise and she jumped, throwing her light coat on and dashing out the door. Just before it shut completely she heard Wrath call something to her, then run away from a profanity-screaming Edward. Chuckling, she caught up to Mustang and got into the passenger seat of his car. Sliding in, he sighed, setting his head on the wheel for a moment.

"Please tell me your, ah… Apprentice didn't say what I thought he did." She smiled innocently and looked over at him. Oh, she was sure he had heard what Wrath had said, and just the whole idea made her laugh. As farfetched as it seemed, he had a knack for knowing what's going on when no one else can tell.

"He said: 'I'm sure he's going to go cradle robbing, Winry, but I don't think you're the blonde he's after.' Does that mean something to you, sir?" She watched in humour as his lips pressed into a fine line and a light pink tinge crossed his face.

"You're really going to Central to chase that homunculus that ducked out right as myself and Alphonse came in, aren't you Miss Rockbell." A statement. Not a question. She had to admit, he was good. It was probably how he got so far in the military. Winry looked out the window at the fast moving scenery around her, before glancing slyly at the Brigadier-General.

"How about we agree to just keep our mouths shut, Mustang?" The raven-haired man nodded, a small grin playing on his face.

"I'll keep my mouth shut about that homunculus, and you keep yours shut about what your boy meant." She made a small noise of agreement and leaned again the door as he pulled up to the train station. Someone came up to him and he handed the man a little slip of paper and the keys. Leave it to the military to convince someone to lend them there car. Or maybe it was because of Alphonse. She went and bought their tickets, before boarding the train in silence together. No sooner had they settled into the booth that she nodded off, spending the first part of the trip asleep. The rest was spent fretting over what to say to Envy when she found him. By the time the trip was done, she was so twitchy and anxious she nearly knocked the Brigadier-General off his feet in desperation to get out.

"Are you all right Miss Rockbell?" He asked, handing her the pack and walking her outside. She nodded, pulling out Envy's map and looking around. There was a small hotel near the red circle and she read it carefully, before turning back to Mustang.

"Wait, hold on!" She called as he got into the car waiting for him. Hawkeye was standing in front of the driver's door, looking at her with the same mild irritation Winry remembered.

"Can you give this to Scheizka for me?" She handed Al's letter over and the pale man gave her a wan smile.

"Of course." He said, getting into the car. "Just make sure you're careful. Those boys will have my life if you get hurt pursuing this… strange friend of yours." The car pulled away with a rumble and she held the map up. Facing east, she started walking. She wasn't sure how far it was to the circled building, or to the hotel, or even when to look for him. But she would have to stay somewhere, and that little inn was the closest to the place she needed to be. She held the map up again and turned down one side street, then another. For hours she wound her way through Central. It was dusk when she finally found the small place, kind of old but cozy in a way. She walked up to the front desk and the slightly bent, kindly old man looked up at her.

"Can I help ya, little miss?" He asked, fixing his glasses to get a better look at Winry. The man smiled broadly at her, fishing out a paper from his pocket. He set it on the table and flattened the rather wrinkled note. She gaped, realizing that she was looking at a pen drawing of herself. It was a little off, but remarkably accurate. "Ya must be Miss Winry Rockbell. I tell ya, this is a spittin' image of ya, miss. I almos' believed the young man that reserved the room was daft but he said yeh'd be here and here ya are." He slid a room key across the desk, along with a sealed envelope. She fished around in her bag for her wallet and the man laughed. "He took care of everythin' miss. Ya must be pretty special." He winked again, and she blushed, furiously. Just what was that homunculus up to?

"T-thank you." She said, grabbing the key and the envelope and going up the stairs. Once she found the right room, she set her things down and flopped onto the bed, looking out at the twilit sky. She just couldn't figure him out. First Envy had fought her all the way about staying at her house and even just accepting her thanks for helping Edward, but now he wanted her to track him down, even going so far as to pay for her room? She rubbed her head in frustration and lifted the envelope, tearing it open. There was a single, small piece of paper. On it, in his strange, neat script was another note. She read it carefully, her heart speeding ever so slightly.

_Winry, _

_If you made it this far it means that you came alone. _

_Good girl._

_Now, meet me at midnight. _

_Don't be late. _

_Envy. _

Midnight. Well, that answered when she had to be there. But her name… the last one just had the endearing title "girl". So she was Winry now? She sighed, looking at the clock on the wall. It was seven in the evening, which meant she still had five hours until she had to meet Envy. She got up, bringing out a notepad and pen, setting to writing a letter to Scheizka. She had a feeling that she was going to be gone from her home for a while, and if the Elrics were going to come back to Central before she got back, she didn't want Wrath to be all alone. The child still had nightmares, after all. She set the pad and pen on her desk, pausing, and decided to have a bath first. Better now, to give her hair time to dry. Fishing in her bag, she brought out clean clothes, then walked into the bathroom and started the water.

"A nice hot soak should help clear my mind…" she muttered, taking her hair down and brushing it in front of the mirror. It was all so confusing. The only thing she had thought about since she found Envy was the bizarre sin. She couldn't shake it. She hated to admit it to herself, but he was interesting. Part of her kept thinking, _is this right_? If only there was a sign… then it would be okay. Sighing, she set down the hairbrush, and noticed something on the floor next to the sink. She picked it up and her jaw dropped. It was Envy's headband. Every time she had ever seen him, whether fleeting glances while with Ed and Al or up close on her porch, he had been wearing it. She moved the black material through her hands, loving the softness of it. She plucked a single long, dark hair off it and flushed a deep red.

"I asked for a sign, and I guess this is as good as any." She said to the empty room, her face heating up as the unbidden thought of the sin in the very room, maybe only hours before her, stripping down to bathe. She shook her head, embarrassed. He was dangerous and cruel, and insane. It's not like she hadn't had these thoughts before, about other guys, but the vivid image of him stripping off that tight half-shirt, revealing to the secluded little world of this room that pale alabaster skin and the shine of that emerald black hair as he sunk down in the water... she moaned at the image and jumped, startling herself. Even more embarrassed, she set the headband down on the small, neat pile of clothes on the cabinet top before removing her dirty ones and slipping into the nice hot water, relaxing, letting herself forget the world.

A half hour later had her sitting at her desk, her towel draped across her head, staring at her notepad. She had flipped open to a random page and found a bunch of scribbled notes, all in Ed's insane scrawl. The content made her pause and, in its own twisted way, explained a lot about the nature of his and Mustang's fights, at least from Ed's end. She smiled, remembering Wrath's teasing and Mustang's reaction. She looked down again at a half finished letter to the black haired former Colonel and laughed. She always had a feeling about Ed; he never had shown interest in girls, after all.

_Colonel Mustang,_ she read to herself, biting the end of her pen lightly, hearing Ed's voice echo with words it must have been hard to say.

_It has recently come to my attention that I have found new feelings for, I think I might be interested, I think I might kinda feel something more than, there might be more than just professional emotions toward you, and wish to inform tell let you know confess that I have been thinking a lot about this, and how to say this and, Colonel Mustang Roy, I think I like want need love you. *I don't tell you this to make you uncomfortable, __but because I felt that you should know. Please, don't let this change anything between us. I need this job for my research. I just thought you should know. Edward._

It made her smile to hear such kind words. She made a note to herself to speak to the Brigadier-General about what Wrath said about him. If she could make those two happy, she would. Everyone deserves happiness. That's what Granny always taught her. With that thought it mind, she turned to a clean page to compose her letter to Scheizka.

It was eleven o'clock when she was finally satisfied with both her letter to Scheizka and the one she had decided to write to the Brigadier-General, asking him to meet her for lunch before she left, for what she had called "Edward's sake". It was the truth, in a way, but made it sound as professional as possible. Family worried about one of its own. Standing, she rubbed her eyes and took her coat off the doorknob, putting it on and heading out into the night, finally, to meet Envy. Before she closed the door, she spotted his headband and, after a moment's consideration, she picked it up, slipping it on her own head, the way she saw it on his. She flushed as the fantasy from before came back for a moment, but shoved it down, going out the door and locking it behind her. Quiet as she could, she walked down the stairs and out the front door.

The night air was quiet and calm, with a big full moon hanging bloated in the sky. She had to admit, she was glad it was so full and bright. It made the night seem less threatening than it would if it weren't so nice. She hummed to herself absently, walking down the back road to the marked building. It was eerie back here, with large pieces of rubble strewn across the street, and the closer she got to her destination, the larger the pieces got. It unnerved her. Just where was she meeting Envy? Pulling out her map, she glanced down at it, squinting to see the faded words on it. Laboratory five. She knew about that. It was the place Ed had first met Envy. He told her all about it when she had to fix his arm after that event. Something had exploded and caused the lab to go down. She couldn't remember what exactly happened, just something about Envy and two others, one called Lust and the other called Gluttony, who were dead. Looking up at the mass of rubble, she knew she was here.

The whole place was destroyed; hardly any of its original structure was still standing. The explosion and almost two years of weather and wind had brought it down, crumbling to the earth. She figured in a weird way, it must have been a new beginning for Envy, back to where it really all started, at least with the Elrics. The beginning of the end, that day, she supposed, taking into all of what Edward, and then Wrath, had told her. Wrath had told her that the homunculi had lived a secluded, watchful life, only interfering when they had to, until the Elrics had come along and upset things. He said he had heard Lust talking to Envy one night about those "blasted alchemists" sticking their noses where they didn't belong. Maybe that's why they were meeting here. She had heard from Wrath that the Elrics were the cause of Lust's death, and ultimately all the homunculi. A life for a life? She got really nervous then, and turned to leave. This was not a good idea. He was insane, what if she was right? What if—

Her thought didn't get any farther. As she scrambled up out of the ruins and tried to run, her foot caught on the rubble. She cried out in shock, falling forward, her hands going up to protect her face. She felt something warm and strong catch her before impact, and she dropped her arms, regretting so when she saw the ground rush away from her in a dizzying effect. She felt her ankle pull free and she was set down on the ground. She caught a glimpse of long, dark hair and looked up. A shit-eating grin was gracing the ageless face, and Winry felt her heart hammer in her chest as her light, sapphire blue eyes met the shining amethyst. It was all before her now, and she would soon have all the answers she wanted, and more probably.

Envy was here.

----

**Thanks again to everyone and especially thank Soleil, for without her this would have been a grammatic failure. **

***The original line here got lost somewhere between the thought train and expressing it. I thought it might entertain you a bit to get a taste of things before I go back and edit:_ "I tell you think to make you uncomfortable, but..." _It got really lost someplace. Thanks again love for finding that xD"**

**Remember, reviews make me happy. ^^**

**-PK  
**


	3. UPDATE NOTICE

Updating soon; computer died but problem should be fixed very soon!

Thank you to all you lovelies for hanging in there, and I promise to start again just as soon as I can. Probably within the next couple months.

And I'm looking for a new Beta, mine dropped off the face of the planet. Preferably know about all I write for and accept what I wirte for them. Message me for more info!

-PK


End file.
